


Method Acting

by imifumei



Category: KAT-TUN (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-16
Updated: 2009-06-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 01:28:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10629312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imifumei/pseuds/imifumei
Summary: When Ueda plays a hairdresser in a drama, there is a challenge for him to prove he can do it in real life.





	

**Method Acting**  
Massu/Ueda (with appearances from the rest of NewS and KAT-TUN)  
NC-17  
~9100 words

Written for Crys from the following prompt given _ages_ ago. Forgive me for taking so long, pretty please?

_"ueda/massu, kat-tn teases ueda about his gay hairdresser role in konkatsu! and ueda insists that he really can do hair, so nakamaru volunteers massu as the guinea pig. porn is fine (in the shampoo chair maybe? XD), i'm not fussy who tops although i tend to favor the riding position, or if you don't want to do pwp it can be a ust thing where massu becomes hot for ueda after his sensual scalp massage and kat-tn/news fail at matchmaking. THE MORE BACKGROUND CHARACTERS, THE MERRIER."_

Thanks to Amy who beta'd and put up with me. Please forgive any errors. I made her stay up late to beta it for me.

 

 

"What's so funny?" Ueda strolled into the practice room, effectively quieting a chorus of giggles.  
   
"It's nothing," Kame replied. "Now that you're here, let's start."  
   
Jin, Junno, and Koki were still trying to muffle their laughter as Ueda surveyed their faces in an attempt to ascertain what he'd missed. It had been a while since KAT-TN had collectively mocked Ueda so he nearly missed the signs, but between the guilty look on Maru's face and the way Jin laughed at him like you'd laugh at a little kid who'd just said something adorably nonsensical, Ueda was sure they'd been making fun.  
   
"What," he bit out. It wasn't even a question.  
"It's really nothing" Kame insisted at the same time Koki blurted out, "You look so gay!"  
   
If looks could kill, well if looks could kill then KAT-TUN would long since have been reduced to just 'U'. . .or maybe 'UN' if Ueda had killed Koki early - Maru only really got annoying when Tanakamaru banded together; but if looks _could_ kill Koki'd have dropped where he stood.  
   
"Excuse me?" Ueda managed in the iciest of possible tones.  
   
Jin broke in, "I mean- a hairdresser, Tat-chan?"  
   
"So what?" Ueda asked defensively.  
   
"Well, it _is_ a little like Johnny's not even trying to hide the gay," Maru explained.  
   
"Hey! Kame was in _Nobuta wo Produce_!" Ueda complained.  
   
"Not my fault! All the gay in that show was ad-libbed by Yamapi."  
   
Ueda couldn't disagree that Yamapi carried the majority of the gay for anything he was in. "Well, but I was in Romeo  & Juliet!"  
   
"I never looked that fruity in Yukan Club- even in a dress," Junno countered. Ueda only sighed.  
   
Jin continued, "It's not really the gay that's the problem, Tat-chan. It's just that it's so unbelievable. You? A hairdresser?"  
   
He couldn't really deny the gay, but this was a battle he was not about to lose. "I can _absolutely_ do hair!"  
   
Even Kame, who was usually willing to defend anyone just so they would all get over whatever they were arguing about, looked dubious.  
   
"What? I can."  
   
"Prove it," Jin said with a smirk.  
   
"Umm. . .You want me to do your hair, Jin?"  
   
"Absolutely not."  
   
"We'll need an unbiased third party to judge," Kame suggested.  
   
Jin perked up, "I'll get Ryo."  
   
"No!" chimed Ueda, Maru, and Kame, the last one adding, "I _said 'unbiased'_."  
   
"Tegoshi needs a haircut," Koki offered.  
   
Kame winced at the idea of spending more time with Tegoshi than was strictly necessary and what kind of hell might be visited upon KAT-TUN if he didn't like his new hair. "I don't know if Tegoshi is a good place to start. Maybe Yamapi?"  
   
"You're not touching Pi's hair," Jin warned.  
   
"I'll ask Masuda," Maru supplied helpfully. "He's a good sport."  
   
"Great," Kame nodded. "Now where are we going to do this?"  
   
Maru thought about it for a second. "I think I know a place, actually."

"So what do I get when you losers have to bow to my skills?"

"Jin'll treat you to dinner." Kame smirked.

"Hey, why me?"

"It was your stupid idea, Mr. ' _Prove it_ '."

"Ugh, fine. But if he loses he buys us all lunch."

"Now, that's hardly fair-" Nakamaru began but Ueda cut him off.

"You're on." Ueda stuck out a hand for Jin to shake on it, which he did. "But I'm not going to lose."  
   
~ ~ ~ ~  
   
It was the middle of the night on a Tuesday and Ueda had a stomach full of dread.  
   
"It's really okay," Maru assured him as they waited for Massu and their bandmates to arrive. "It doesn't actually matter what you do to it. Massu will say he likes it and this'll all be over. He's really a nice guy."  
   
"I _can_ actually do it." Ueda defended himself, "I'm just nervous about doing it, you know, in front of everybody, but I _can_ do it." He suspected he might be trying to convince himself.

Maru smiled. "I believe you." It seemed like he had more to say but he was interrupted by Massu knocking on the glass door and waving animatedly at them. Maru got up to let him in.

"Uwahh! How did you get this place, Nakamaru? It was hard to find but," he paused to look around the half-darkened salon, "it's really nice, ne." Massu set down the several packages he had brought with him and went to hang his coat on the rack, still speaking enthusiastically. "So I was thinking now that my hair is growing out again I want to put some streaks back in. I know how to do it, so I can show you if you don't know how, would that be okay, Ueda-kun?"

Massu did not appear to be the slightest bit uncomfortable about the entire situation. He smiled affably and chatted with Nakamaru. His easy-going attitude was contagious. Ueda wondered if this is what it was like to be in NewS, with Masuda around all the time to lighten things up just by being there and smiling. He wondered how the idea of doing anything while Masuda and Nakamaru were there being so damnably _friendly_ could have stressed him out so much. Ueda could feel the tension draining from his shoulders, a grin spreading across his face and a sigh of relief escaping his lips until he realized that he hadn't taken his eyes from Massu since he walked in and Nakamaru was waving a hand in front of his face trying to get his attention. "Huh?"

"Did you hear anything Masuda and I just said to you?"

Ueda bit his lips bashfully and pulled his sweater sleeves over his fists. "Umm, no."

"Masuda brought us some pork fried rice."

"Actually, I brought enough for everyone, when they get here. I thought it would be nice for them to have something to occupy them while you were doing my hair." Massu nodded as he spoke as if to motivate the others to agree that this was a good idea so that he could feel a little less nervous about having taken the liberty.  
As if on cue, what Ueda could only think of as a jangling mass of idiots came up to the door.

"Ahh! Nice place, Maru!" Junno said, grinning.  
"It was a bitch to find." Koki grumbled.  
"Let's get this show on the road. I'm supposed to be meeting Pi later." Jin said calling them to as much order as could be expected.  
"You didn't have to come" Kame said to Jin.  
"Of course I did. I wouldn't miss Uepi fucking up Masuda's hair for the world. NewS is going to be on Music Station this Friday you know. Besides, it was my challenge."

Ueda's eyes got saucer-wide and he turned again to face Massu, feeling tension creeping stealthily back into his shoulders. "Is that true?"

"Yep. We're promoting Koi no ABO."  
"You're going on M-Sute in three days and _I'm_ doing your hair?"  
"Yep."  
"Backing out, Tat-chan?" Jin raised an eyebrow.

Ueda looked from Massu's trusting face to Maru's reassuring one and then to Jin's challenging stare. "No. I'm not backing out." His focused into leader mode. "Okay, you guys sit down and shut up. Masuda-kun was kind enough to bring you something to eat so eat it and stay out of my way. Masuda, Maru, come with me." Ueda led them to an adjacent room full of color bottles, powders, creams, and mixes.

"Okay, so here's the thing. Are you sure it's okay for me to do your hair right before a TV spot?"

"Yeah. It's easy. You just mix an ounce of this," he held up a tube, "with two ounces of this," he held up a bottle with a big number 30 on it, "put it on my hair and let it sit for 20 minutes. I do this all the time." 

Ueda wasn't entirely sure what these things were, the tube and the bottle that had a word in English _Dew? no, Deve-something?_ , and he was sure he wasn't qualified to use them, but Massu seemed to know what he was doing.

"It'll be fine," Nakamaru nodded at him.  
   
Five minutes later KAT-T were ensconced in the waiting area of the salon, sprawled across couches, stuffing their faces and flipping through the channels on a small TV that was usually kept on to occupy guests whose stylists couldn't take them yet.

Ueda began to paint the hair color onto Massu's head very, very carefully, wrapping the painted pieces in foil the way he'd seen countless hairstylists do on countless salon trips in the past. It really wasn't difficult at all, he thought, but that didn't stop him from ignoring whatever small talk Nakamaru was spouting and biting his lips in concentration as he focused fully on his task. 

As Ueda's delicate fingers moved nimbly through his coarse hair, Massu watched his face in the mirror. He could see Ueda's trepidation and it was sort of cute how nervous Ueda seemed, but he was especially drawn to the determination in his eyes. He didn't know Ueda well, but he could see why he succeeded in becoming a star; he didn't back down in the face of an uncomfortable situation. He had a fighter's spirit. Massu tried not to think about how incredibly corny that sounded. Instead, he focused on the way Ueda flicked his hair out of his eyes with a casual toss of his head. The way his pink tongue worried at his bottom lip just before he sucked the corner of it between his teeth. The way his nose wrinkled when he didn't feel like he had something just right.

". . .or you know, if Monday isn't good, you could just say so. It's okay." Nakamaru was saying.

"Huh? Uh-  no, no Monday's fine. For what?"

"Shopping. I just said. We were going to go shopping this week."

"Yes, no, yes it's fine. Monday is fine."

"Great. What the hell?" Nakamaru started at the clamor suddenly coming from the otherside of the large, open-arched doorway between the salon and the waiting room. Koki and Jin were wrestling over what Nakamaru assumed must be the remote. They rolled off the couch and onto the floor, Jin shoving at Koki's hands, Koki tickling Jin to get him to let go.

Jin shrieked like a girl at touches to his neck and shoulders, prompting peals of laughter from Junno.

"Help me, you ass!" Jin yelled, presumably at Junno or possibly Kame who made a half-hearted attempt to pull Koki off of Jin, laughing at Jin's discomfort all the while.

Jin sprang free with the remote and a childish "ha ha!" before Kame let Koki go and he dove right for it, grabbing the remote with both hands and spinning around Jin so that now his back was to the salon area and Jin was pulling on the remote tug-of-war style.

"I'm not watching your stupid American TV show reruns!" Koki shouted utterly without venom. Now the point had been lost and this was all messing around, not what they were watching.

"24 is an incredibly gripping television show!" Jin countered, pulling harder. "We don't need to spend _another_ hour on DragonBall."

Ueda had just finished his last perfectly artistic piece of the  hair-painting/foil-wrapping process and picked up the bowl of leftover cream bleach in his left hand, pointing as menacingly as he could with his right, "You guys knock it off or I'm doing you next." 

But Koki and Jin were not paying the slightest bit of attention. 

"DragonBall rocks!" Koki gave a particularly vicious jerk of the remote.

"Fine! Watch your stupid show." Jin said letting go of the remote entirely. Koki, not expecting the sudden loss of pressure stumbled back into Ueda who, on boxer's instincts turned his shoulder into Koki's body, leaving him facing the back of Massu's head.

Massu watched the entire thing happen in the mirror but could do little more that grimace as he saw Koki falling toward Ueda at his back.

Koki careened into him, forcing him right up against Massu who was still seated in the stylist's chair, the bowl of cream bleach splattering all over his freshly foiled head and Ueda's black shirt.

"Son of a bitch!" Ueda shouted to a chorus of "Eh"s,  "Ah"s, and "Oh"s. Massu merely maintained his grimace.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry, Masuda-kun." Koki started ducking his head and apologizing immediately. "Shit, shit, can you fix it, Tat-chan? I'm so sorry." Koki was nearly in apologetic hysterics by the time Ueda had stripped off his bleach-covered shirt and gone over to Massu to assess the damage.

Ueda sighed the sigh of a thousand straight days with KAT-TN and waved Koki off. "Just get out of here. Go sit down and for fuck's sake be quiet." Koki turned obediently only to see Jin standing silently shocked.

"You fucker," Koki spit fractiously under his breath, "this is all your fault. You made me wreck Masuda-kun's hair and now Tesshi will be pissed at me. You should go apologize too, asshole."

Jin did feel bad, but he didn't appreciate being told to apologize and he didn't miss the reference. "What do I care if Tegoshi gets mad at me?" he whispered to Koki, but he also caught the way Massu's eyebrows were drawn together, upset, and the withering glare Ueda shot him through the mirror. He really ought to apologize. He never had anything against Masuda, after all. Who could? "Uh. . .Sorry, Masuda." he offered, screwing his lips to the side.

"It's okay. It's fine. I'm sure it'll be fine, right Ueda?" it wasn't so much of a question as an effort to diffuse the situation and reassure Ueda who was busy trying to pull cream out of Massu's hair with the little paintbrush and chewing his bottom lip so hard Massu thought he might bite straight through. Jin nodded and retreated into the other room. 

Ueda knew from experience that getting the bleach poured straight onto your scalp was going to sting; maybe not now, but after five or ten minutes of processing it was going to burn like a motherfucker. He knew because when he first dyed his own hair blonde he hadn't gone to a salon. He'd done it himself at home resulting in discomfort and a frizzy, over-processed mess.

"What do you think, Ueda? Will it be okay?" Nakamaru's brow furrowed in concern.

"I don't think it will, actually." Ueda surveyed the mess on top of Massu's head. There was no helping it. He had bleach all over. "I can sort of. . .spread it out, i guess. It's going to be really blonde, though."

"Well, that's fine. It's good to try new things, right?" 

Ueda met Massu's eyes in the mirror and took in his brilliant "everything's going to be alright" smile. Before long he found himself smiling too. He gathered all the bleach-splattered hair up into a mass on the crown of Massu's head and talked with Massu and Nakamaru while it processed. 

After a while Kame ambled in, leaving Junno engrossed in his hand-held video game and Koki and Jin to watch TV, apparently too abashed to interact with the group in the salon area.

Ueda marveled at the way Massu was talkative and animated with Kame, whom he didn't know all that well despite having worked together in the past. Massu was just a warm and inviting personality. He never even complained about the bleach on his scalp being itchy. 

Ueda found himself wanting to spend more time with him, just looking at him, watching him be so vivacious. It was a nice change to the way things were in KAT-TUN; the only one around who was ever just _happy_ without any other qualifications was Junno and he was often very difficult to talk to.

Just last month he'd done an interview in which he'd said he wanted to be more sparkly and as he watched Massu laugh and talk now, he was sure he'd made the correct analogy. This is exactly what he was looking for more of. 

Twenty minutes flew by and Ueda was glad he'd set a timer for the processing of Massu's bleach because if it hadn't gone off, startling the lot of them and tearing a chorus of giggles from their throats, he thought he might have been able to sit there and be sociable with Massu all night.

Instead, he shooed Kame and Maru out into the waiting area and escorted Massu over to the shampoo room where the lights were dimmed since it was after hours. Ueda looked around for a switch but finding none, turned to Massu, "Sorry, I can't find the light. But it's just a shampoo. I can probably manage to do it in low light without screwing it up."

"You're doing very well, Ueda-kun."

"Are you serious? I may have completely ruined your hair three days before you go on Music Station to promote you new single."

"That wasn't your fault, and besides, you were doing well before that." 

Massu's eyes sparkled and Ueda had to look away to keep from blushing. "Well to tell you the truth, I had no idea what I was doing. This is the part that I actually know how to do."

Massu sat in the shampoo chair and Ueda reached up to cradle his head as he leaned back.

"Just let me know if the water is too hot or too cold, alright?"

"Mm." Massu had had plenty of shampoos before in his life so he knew what to expect. He closed his eyes and waited for Ueda to start. Then something absolutely magical happened. 

If he had thought Ueda's fingers were nimble before, it was nothing compared to the deftness with which he massaged Massu's bleach-burned scalp.

He kept the water the perfect temperature to be soothing, but not to sting, running the gentle spray over his head to wet all of his hair and then lathering his entire head with a sweet-smelling shampoo. His fingers teased and twirled through Massu's hair, running little circles around his scalp and chasing the touch with the warm water cascading softly from the hand-held shower head. It was terribly sensual and Massu was embarrassed to be enjoying it so much. 

As soon as Ueda shut the spray off, Massu began to sit up, only to be faced with warm, wet hands on his shoulders, soaking his t-shirt and pressing him back down toward the sink. Massu opened his eyes to Ueda's slightly disapproving face, haloed by the dimmed overhead lighting which made his naked torso practically glow. "You need a conditioning treatment."

"But, I-"

"With that much bleach, you _definitely_ need a conditioning treatment. Just stay put."

Massu gulped but did as he was told. Moments later, Ueda's fingers were delving back into his hair, resuming the exquisite torture. Massu couldn't remember a shampoo at a salon ever being this. . .not sexy. This was just a shampoo, it wasn't sexy, not at all. 

But as Ueda worked the conditioner into his hair, starting at his nape, massaging his neck, tracing more of those torturous little circles around his hair line, trailing his nails against the sensitive skin behind his ears and brushing over the shell of his ear, Massu found himself wishing he was wearing one of those capes that stylists usually put on you so that he wouldn't have to lay there with his hands crossed in his lap, biting back a moan and trying not to be aroused.

He thanked every one of his lucky stars that he'd already had his eyes closed so that Ueda couldn't see them rolling back in his head when Ueda's thumbs brushed down over his temples and back around his ears, letting his fingers brush over his earlobes and then plunge up into the hair at the back of his crown.

Ueda stopped suddenly, looking down at Massu's drawn-together brows with concern. "Are you okay?"

 _Pause. Gulp._ ". . .Yep."

"I'm almost done. Sorry this is supposed to be the good part."

"No, it's . . . great. Go ahead." Ueda began to rinse the conditioner out of his hair. Massu shifted uncomfortably in the shampoo chair. He was laying all the way back, feeling terribly exposed, attempting to think of anything besides Ueda looking so beautiful in the dim, after-hours light of the shampoo room and the spreading warmth in the pit of his belly that Ueda stoked with every stroke of warm spray and quick fingers over his scalp.

Thankfully, when it was done, no one was watching him when he walked back to the stylists chair for the blow-out Ueda insisted on giving him, which conveniently gave him a little time holding a towel in his lap as he collected himself. The rest of the styling session went basically the way most go, albeit with a few more surreptitious glances at the stylist on the part of the client and a few more bashful peeks at the client from the stylist than are usually present in the typical color-and-style appointment.

"Well?" Nakamaru hazarded the question first, "What do you think?"

"Actually, I like it."

Ueda shook his head, "It's okay. You don't have to lie to spare my feelings. It's okay if you hate it. I'll just blame Jin and Koki."

"No, I like it. It's not what I usually do, but it's nice, interesting."

Kame piped up, "Then it's a testament to how good Ueda's hairstyling skills really are, since his client liked his hairstyle even after you two morons messed it up."

Grudgingly, Jin agreed with a small nod.

"Great. We're having pasta at Trattoria Pinosalice" Ueda announced triumphantly, it was easily the best Italian in Shibuya and maybe in all of Tokyo. Jin could eat his words with a side of bruschetta, or knowing Jin, probably tiramisu.

Jin grimaced but agreed and made his excuses before heading out. Shortly after, rousing Junno from his game so he could drive them home, Kame and Koki headed out. 

Maru nattered on while they cleaned up, leaving the place as they found it, as he had promised. He handed Ueda his bleach-stained shirt, wrapped in a plastic bag, and grabbed their sweaters and Massu's sweatshirt from the coat rack. Then he locked up and he and Ueda walked Massu to the train before sharing a cab home. 

Maru thought that there may have been a shy blush about his friend as they had waved and said their goodbyes by the train station, but matters of quiet romance not really being his strongest suit, he wasn't sure. He wasn't really one to notice when a situation was romantic until the other party involved was already kissing him. He tried to pry some information out of Ueda in the cab, well, insofar as anyone could pry information out of Ueda who, while he may not have been mysterious _per se_ , certainly wasn't always especially forthcoming.

"So, that went well," he began.

"Could have gone better."

"Could have gone worse."

"I guess."

"I'm glad Massu liked his hair."

Ueda blushed and shrugged his shoulders, plucking his sweater closer around him like he was cold, even though the cab's temperature was perfectly comfortable. 

"He liked it well enough, maybe he'll ask you to do it again."

Ueda turned his face to the window and bit the inside of his cheek the way he did when he didn't want to smile and let on how pleased he really was, Maru had seen him do it, oh, maybe a half a million times in the last eight years or so.

"I'm sure he won't." Ueda said.

Well that clinched it. Ueda liked him. Of course he did. Who didn't like Massu?  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Massu had gotten to the jimusho a little early so he could pal around with the Juniors until he found one with the magazine he wanted. Today was what? The 22nd? Next month's issues should have been out for at least a couple of weeks already. Plus, _Pinky_ was a fashion magazine, which meant it was full of cute girls, so he was sure one of the Juniors would have it.

He ended up conning it off of one of the really teensy ones and he kind of felt bad because it still looked like it was in good shape and those little guys got everything handed down, but he needed to read the interview he knew it contained so he swapped the kid for a sweet bean bun and the promise to remember him if he got to backdance for NewS' next concert. Massu would make sure to ruffle his hair on camera or something to get him noticed.

He had just sat down with a bottle of tea in the NewS dressing room to read it when Ryo walked in. The first sentence had him grinning like an idiot, even for himself. Ryo looked at him suspiciously. 

"Morning, what's up with you today?"

"Good morning. Nothing."

"New hair." Ryo pointedly did not make any disparaging comments about Massu's questionable new bleach job.

"Uh, yeah." Massu continued to read and smile to himself. 

Ryo knew that Massu enjoyed fashion magazines but this was a little ridiculous. He got up to look over Massu's shoulder at the article he was reading. He had the page folded back to reveal a coy Ueda Tatsuya and maybe half a dozen interview questions. Massu's hand was mostly covering the section with Nakamaru, so Ryo guessed he wasn't reading Maru's answers.

Ryo pulled back to look at Massu's doofy grin and then back at Ueda's face on the page. He couldn't be grinning like that over Ueda, could he?

"What are you reading, Buta?"

Realizing that Ryo was looking right over his shoulder, Massu started guiltily and slammed the magazine down in his lap, covering Ueda's face with his hand. "Nothing!" _Well done, Taka, way to seem nonchalant._ "Fashion magazine. Next month's _Pinky_. KAT-TUN's in it."

"Uh-huh." Ryo said but to Massu it sounded more like suspicious 'uh-huh, just as I thought' of someone deducing something, not the affirmative 'uh-huh, I know' of someone agreeing with you. In any case, Ryo let it go, only giving him the same weird look Ryo gave someone who offered him a piece of fish or the look he gave a questionable piece of chicken.

Shige and Koyama came in with mild 'good mornings' but nothing to say about his new hair and no other questions. Tegoshi, however, greeted him with a loud "What did you do to your hair?!"

Before Massu could reply Shige piped up with what had to be weeks of pent-up irritation. "What did _he_ do? Are you serious? Since I stopped doing your hair you look more and more like a lesbian and people give _me_ a hard time!"

"Hey!-" Tegoshi began.

"Ne~ has anyone seen my handphone?" Yamapi sauntered in, effectively cutting off Tegoshi and diffusing the situation with one of the most common things heard in the NewS dressing room, 'has anyone seen (insert name of one of Pi's belongings)'. "I forgot to update my nikki on Saturday I can't miss it again so soon or I'll get in trouble again."

As usual, the members became occupied helping Yamapi find his handphone and thankfully no one said anything to Massu about his hair, or his reading habits, for the rest of the day.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Friday afternoon rolled around and Maru asked Ueda if he'd like to grab a bite after their photoshoot that afternoon.

"Umm, I can't actually, I have plans."

"Oh, a date?" Maru knew the answer was 'no' but he wanted to see what Ueda would say.

"No, I was just going to stay home and watch Music Station."

"Oh really?" Maru nodded knowingly, "NewS is on tonight you know."

"Oh are they? Huh, I guess so. Well that's nice for them, isn't it?" 

Maru thought Ueda really failed at looked innocently disinterested. He countered, "Oh, you didn't remember? Why the sudden interest in M-Sute, then?"

Ueda's face read 'searching for plausible explanation' very clearly before his eyes lit up. "Gackt is on tonight."

Maru rolled his eyes but let it go. "A likely story. We'll do it another time then. I wouldn't want to take you away from _Gackt_."

Ueda spent his evening feeling warm all over watching Massu dance extra-animatedly, waving with particular vehemence, and smiling especially charmingly. He certainly _did not_ take special notice of the way his white pants clung enticingly to his thighs when he danced, the skim of his shirt over his muscled torso, or the way he shook his ass when he was touching hands with the fangirls surrounding the stage.

He definitely didn't dream about it either.  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On Monday, Massu was seated in his dressing room with a magazine. This time he made sure to choose one that NewS was _also_ in so Ryo wouldn't look at him that way again. He marked the NewS pages with a finger and flipped to the photos of KAT-TUN. However, he made the mistake of sitting in a chair with his back to the door so he didn't notice Ryo walk right up behind him and glare down over his shoulder at Ueda's coy-for-the-camera look.

"What are you reading, Buta?"

Massu jumped half out of his skin, flipping with lightning speed to the pages he had earmarked and sputtering, "P-p-potato!"

"Uh-huh."

"Our photos look really good."

"Of course they do." Ryo said dismissively. "Massu, are you pining over Fish Lips?"

"He doesn't have fish lips." Massu inwardly kicked himself, he never was good at keeping secrets, "and no, I'm not pining."

"Eugh, you _are._ I hate to see you pine away, Buta. Even if it is over that ugly loser."

"I'm not _pining._ " Massu asserted, but Ryo was a big softie and he didn't seem to be taking too much offense to the idea. "What would 'pining' entail, exactly?"

"Sitting around reading his articles and grinning like a moron when you think about him."

"I just think he's. . .interesting."

"Well call him."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"I don't have any reason."

"He did that to your hair, right? I know he did, Jin told me and Pi that he did."

"Uh, well this was sort of an accident. . .which was not his fault," he hastened to add. "But yeah, he did it."

"Ugh, fine. Stay here, I'll be right back."

Ten minutes later Massu sat chatting amiably with Koyama while Shige and Tegoshi busied themselves with whatever coursework they had handy and Pi lounged on the couch waiting for Ryo to return so the could get started.

Ryo walked right up to Massu and unceremoniously dumped a bottle of what, by the smell, Massu assumed to be haircolor onto his head.

" _-the hell?_ " he managed before Koyama jumped to Massu's defense. 

"Ryo-chan! Why would you do such a thing? Who do you think you are?!"

"I'm his fairy-fucking-godfather." He said to Koyama with a smirk. "Now call him."

Massu left the room to wash his hair out, leaving a cacaphony of "seriously, what the hell?" and "call who" and "the blonde wasn't _that_ bad". 

In the bathroom when he realized that his hair wasn't totally salvageable, he wondered whether Ryo really had just done him a favor. Even if he had, sometimes he was just a jerk. Massu immediately felt bad for thinking so and dug a hat out of his bag to cover the greyish-brown splotches on his hair. It wasn't so bad. It just looked uneven. 

He was absently glad that the white-with-neon-paint-splotches emergency cap he had with him matched his bright green pants and black-and-white stripey sweatshirt.  
   
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
Maru met Massu in the lobby of the jimusho, taking note of the hat. "Didn't really like the blonde after all?" he questioned.

"No, I liked it. There was a. . um. . an accident today."

"With your hair? What happened?"

"Uh, Ryo-chan accidentally poured some hair dye on my head."

Then Maru said 'uh-huh' in exactly the way Ryo had. Massu was starting to get irritated by it. "And it was an accident?"

"Uh, yeah, well- maybe more of a misunderstanding."

"I see."

"He thought I was pining over Ueda-kun so he ruined my hair so I'd have to call him to get him to fix it, isn't that crazy?" 

Maru fought back a grin. "Yeah, well, Ryo does do crazy things sometimes, I guess. Do you want Ueda's number? I bet he'd fix it for you."

"No, no. I couldn't ask him to do that. I'll just go to a salon or something."

They grabbed a quick bite talking about nothing much at all and shopped in companionable silence save the occasional 'what do you think?' for about an hour before Massu nonchalantly asked Nakamaru, "Hey, could I maybe get Ueda-kun's handphone number from you after all?"  
   
Nakamaru seemed mildly interested. Actually he seemed extremely interested, but he was also feigning nonchalance so his interest came of as merely mild, "Sure, but if you're just going to go to a salon, then why?"  
   
Massu really didn't think that "Because your bandmate is adorable and I was to kiss him like crazy and, if possible, get into his a-little-drab-but-nonetheless-well-styled pants" was the best answer to give one of his very best friends so he kept looking at racks of sunglasses like they were the best looking ones he'd ever seen and grasped for the only possible answer he could think of that didn't sound completely, you know, gay. "I want to ask him a question about training." That was plausible, right? He went to the gym, Ueda went to the gym, maybe Massu could feasibly have a question relating to training, right?

Maru didn't say anything right away but the way he was hiding his knowing smile behind a rack of hats made Massu blush fiercely. In an effort to change the subject, he held up a pair of ostentatious sunglasses, "What do you think?"

"I think you could wear them for Koi no ABO, so maybe not the best choice. Also, I think I'd be happy to give you Ueda's handphone number. He's free tomorrow evening." That wasn't entirely true. He had plans with Maru that Tuesday evening but Maru was willing to let that go in favor of helping his two shyest friends get together, if either of them could even stop blushing long enough to confess, not that he was one to talk, but still.

After they said their goodbyes later that evening, he messaged Ueda.  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ueda's phone lit up his darkened livingroom. 

_Message from Maru:  
Sent 23:08, Monday, 27 April 2009_

_I have to cancel our plans for tomorrow. Sorry._

_-Maru_

_Message from Maru:  
Sent 23:09, Monday, 27 April 2009_

_Also, I gave your number to Masuda._

_-Maru_

_Message from Maru:  
Sent 23:10, Monday, 27 April 2009_

_You may be interested to know, he asked for it._

_-Maru  
_

Ueda's heart started beating a little faster. He took a moment to get it under control.

_Message to Maru:  
Sent 23:12, Monday, 27 April 2009_

_Do you know why?_

_-Tatsuya  
_

He had no sooner pressed 'Send' than his phone chimed with another incoming message.

_Message from Maru:  
Sent 23:12, Monday, 27 April 2009_

_Also, I can get the salon for you again if you want._

_-Maru_

Ueda's hands were shaking so nervously that he fumbled and nearly dropped his phone when it actually rang.

"H-hello?"

" _Ahh, Ueda-kun, hello. It's Masuda. I got your number from Nakamaru. I'm sorry, I hope that's okay._ "

"It's fine."

" _Um, well the reason I called is ah-_ "

"Maru messaged me about the salon. Did something happen to your hair?"

" _He did?_ " Masuda cringed at his own utter transparency. " _Yeah, something happened. I was hoping maybe you wouldn't mind re-doing it?_ " He tried to keep the desperate hope out of his voice and ask it like he would ask a favor of any other friend.

"Yes! I mean, no problem." Ueda though he heard Massu release a held breath. He could hear the smile in his voice when he responded.

" _Great._ "

"I, uh, apparently have tomorrow free. Can it wait until then?"

" _Yes, that'll be great. I'll meet you there?_ "

"Yes."

" _Goodnight, Ueda-kun._ "

"Goodnight." Ueda wondered if you could hear how wide his grin was too.  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"So you had to cancel but you have the time to come and unlock this place for us, huh?" Ueda questioned Maru as they walked up to the glass doors of the darkened salon.

"Yeah, I'm going to go have dinner with my parents."

"And you're sure it's okay to keep using the salon?"

"Are you kidding? My sister's friends all know I'm in KAT-TUN, they're happy to help you out. I feel a little bad, actually, using our group's fame to ask a favor."

"Well, we'll just have to do something nice for them, like come during daylight hours."

Massu was making his way up the sidewalk so Maru thought he'd best make himself scarce. "Lock up when you get inside. I'll be back in an hour." Maru left, nodding to Massu as he passed.

"It was nice of him to come let us in." Massu said by way of greeting.

"Yes, it was." Ueda held the door open for Massu and shut and locked it behind him. He didn't bother turning the lights on in the waiting room, just headed back to the room full of color bottles, indicating to Massu that he should follow.

"I really appreciate this Ueda-kun."

Ueda looked at him sidelong through his lashes, "You don't have to be so formal."

"I don't know what else-" Massu cast his eyes about for anything to focus on that wasn't Ueda flicking his hair out of his pretty eyes.

"You could call me Tatsuya. It was this tube and this bottle right?" He was holding a bottle with a big 20 on it.

"Uh, no." Massu took it from him, their fingers brushing together, and set it on the counter before handing him the level 30 developer instead. If he was going to get this warm every time they touched, this was going to be a long evening. 

"How did you learn this stuff?" Ueda asked.

"Oh, um, I've been getting pretty much the same hair style since I was a Junior until I did Rescue. The always use the same thing; the tube that says 110 and level 30 developer for 20 minutes. It's been years, I picked it up."

"That's kind of impressive. I've been getting my hair colored for years and I haven't the slightest clue."

"I'm sure it's because you have other things you are thinking about."

"No, I think it's because you pay much closer attention than people give you credit for."

"Ah, thanks." Massu never knew quite how to take compliments. He blushed and followed Ueda with the bowlful of hair color out to the salon area.

"Have a seat." Ueda invited. "Take off that cap and let's see this mess." Massu pulled his cap off of his head and brushed his hair down while Ueda shed his sweater and shirt down to just a white tank top. He learned his lesson the last time and really didn't need to ruin any more of his clothes. He threw them on a nearby chair and turned back to Massu's splotchy head. "Oh my god, what happened?"

"Oh, Ryo put some hair dye on my hair. It was an accident."

Ueda nodded sagely, "Nishikido did it, I see. That explains it."

"It wasn't malicious or anything."

"You know, I am sure, knowing Nishikido, he thought he was doing something right. He can't help it if he's a moron."

"Well-" 

"About hair at least." 

Massu had lived through some of Ryo's questionable dye jobs in the past, so he really couldn't refute that. "Can you fix it?"

"I have no idea. I'll tell you what I can do. I can do exactly what I did last time and see if that helps. Other than that, like I said, I have no clue what I'm doing."

" _Exactly_ what you did last time?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

Ueda set to work, pulling the top part of Massu's hair up and working the cream bleach into it, and setting it in a sticky mass on top of his head. Massu watched his with the same fascination he'd had last time, but without Maru's idle conversation to distract him. He wondered if Ueda worried his lip on purpose but he'd seen a few episodes of Cartoon KAT-TUN where he did it so Massu guessed he probably had no idea. 

He'd read several of KAT-TUN's magazine interviews in the last few days. Ueda was unfailingly charming and open. The only thing that worried him was the idea that Ueda didn't think he was 'bright' enough. A few times while he was painting the bleach onto Massu's hair, their eyes met in the mirror. Ueda's sparkled and he looked away quickly. Massu wondered whether Ueda had any idea that he was already dazzling and didn't need to be any brighter like he'd said in _Pinky_. 

Ueda finished and set the timer, pulling a chair over to sit across from Massu.

"So how are things, Ue- uh, Tatsuya?"

"Not bad, yourself?"

"Not bad. Busy. With the new single."

"Right. I saw you on Music Station."

"You did?" Massu's spirits soared then sank as he realized, "oh, Gackt was on."

"Yes, he was," Ueda fisted his hands in his lap lamenting the fact that he didn't have sweater sleeves to tug on, "but I'd have watched it even if he wasn't," he finished quietly.

Massu smiled and gulped, trying to quell the inevitable heat creeping up his neck to color his face. _change the subject change the subject ask him how things are going with the tour prep_ "How are things going with your tour preparations?"

"Very well. We have a little over two weeks left to get everything squared away." 

Thankfully, Ueda was a pretty talkative guy if you got him going on something he was knowledgeable about so the remainder of his processing time was spent listening to a detailed report of the problems they were having with the Dome setup compared to the concept drawings, a lot of information he'd already heard from Nakamaru about Kame flying and them having difficulty finding a top hat that was small enough to fit Koki's little head without making him look like one of those little demons from Ireland, something Nakamaru had _not shared_ about a stunt he might be doing. There was a protracted tirade about how difficult it was to do a duet when only half of the duet was present and some comments about Jin being a diva that weren't really news to Massu, and a couple of comments regarding a powder blue tuxedo of Junno's that Ueda was just glad had nothing to do with samurai and no parts that were also dragons.

Massu listened to him talk about his group extensively, drinking in his exasperated affection and his easy manner until Ueda called him on his silence.

"You're a very gentle person to be indulging me like this. I'm sorry, you must be bored to tears."

"No, I, actually-"

The timer buzzed harshly cutting him off. Ueda stood. Massu followed him to the back of the salon and into the shampoo room, with it's familiar low light. This is the part that Massu was both yearning for and dreading. He wanted to feel that fire in his belly that Ueda kindled the last time.

"Go ahead and sit." Ueda instructed. Massu did as he was told, desperately trying not to let on how quickly his breath was coming with Ueda standing right over him, hands already cradling his head as he lowered his neck to the hard porcelain of the shampoo sink. He looked up into Ueda's eyes. Whatever Ueda saw in his own caused him to frown very slightly, as if uncertain.

"I read your interview." He blurted it out like a confession.

Whatever Ueda had been expecting, it wasn't that. "You what?" He leaned back but didn't move his hands from the nape of Massu's neck.

Massu sat up, grasping Ueda's wrists in each hand so he couldn't step away or remove his hands when he heard what Massu was going to say. "I read your interview. In _Pinky_." 

Ueda tried to recall exactly what he'd said. _I want to be brighter. . .like NewS._ "And?"

"I don't think you should try to be like NewS. Tatsuya," he waited for Ueda to meet his eyes again, "I think you already glow." 

It might have been the sappiest line he had ever heard in his life, but after eight years in the Johnny's group with the lowest sap quotient of all, it was just the kind of ridiculously sweet thing Ueda needed to hear. Then Massu released one of Ueda's arms to crush him into a kiss that was anything but sweet. It wasn't hard, but it _was_ impatient and demanding.

Between his romantic words and his hot mouth, Ueda felt powerless to resist Massu's pull; both the literal one that had him falling into Massu's lap as his strong arms came around to Ueda's back, and the figurative one that had Ueda falling deeply into a pool of want with every stroke of Massu's tongue over his lower lip, into his mouth, and against his tongue. 

Massu kissed him like he had been waiting years for it, even though Ueda knew that wasn't the case. He could feel the power of Massu's desire for him in the strong hands kneading his back and the way Massu rose up out of the reclined chair to press up into him even as he pulled Ueda down against his chest. 

Ueda opened to him, letting their tongues slide together, encouraging Massu's exploration with breathy moans until finally Massu broke the kiss to trail his mouth down over Ueda's jawline and up to nip at his earlobe before tasting the skin just under his ear and sliding his tongue all the way down Ueda's neck to his collarbone where he sucked gently.

Ueda threw his head back, moaned, and opened his eyes when Massu's teeth grazed over the bone. He ran his hand up into Massu's hair and only then did he realize that Massu still had bleach in it. 

How long had it been processing? _Shit._ "Shit."

Massu looked up startled only half-out of his lusty haze. "What?"

"You still have bleach in your hair."

"I don't care," Massu said and he once again buried his face in Ueda's neck.

"Oh god," Ueda groaned, "No, really. You'll care when it breaks off because it's overprocessed." He pulled away from Massu and they both whined a little.

This time when Ueda ran his fingers teasingly through Massu's hair he didn't stifle his groans. He responded in full when Ueda teased his hairline and temples with the pad of a thumb, when Ueda's quick fingers massaged the base of his skull. He pulled Ueda to stand close by him so that he had to lean over Massu's reclined body to lather his hair. When Ueda traced the shell of his ear, he arched up and reached out to run a hand up under Ueda's tank top over his hard abdomen. He rubbed his thumb over Ueda's nipples and was pleased to feel a shudder in response.

“ _Ngh_ , just- just hang on. I have to get the rest of the shampoo out of your hair.”

“I'm clean enough,” Massu barely finished mumbling before he dragged Ueda down by the shirtfront and was diving into his mouth again. 

“Mm- Massu,” Ueda breathed against his lips and was shocked by the loss when Massu pulled back sharply.

“Tatsuya, please don't call me that. Everyone calls me that. _Tegoshi_ calls me that. Please call me Taka instead.”

“Taka,” Ueda whispered and turned to sit on Massu's lap, winding his arms around Massu's neck, wet from his dripping hair. He rubbed their noses together and pressed forward into Massu's mouth again, breaking only when Massu pulled his tank top up over his head. 

Ueda yanked Massu's t-shirt off and tossed it to the side, Massu's strong, warm hands were at his waist before the shirt hit the floor and Ueda could get his arms back around Massu's neck.

Massu was unfastening his pants, not stopping at his cotton boxers, pushing the fabric aside to get skin to skin with flesh Ueda hadn't even realized was aching until Massu touched him and sent electricity jolting through his veins. Ueda trembled and pressed against him, awkwardly pressing down against Massu's erection from his side-saddle position across Massu's lap. He continued to stroke Ueda languidly, along his entire length until Ueda was arching his into his touch and moaning with abandon.

“Tatsuya-” Massu pushed Ueda's legs open and rolled his balls in his hand, sliding his hand further into his pants and ever closer to his entrance.

“Taka, oh god, I don't have anything. . .”

Massu had the modesty to look abashed. “I do.” He pushed Ueda up off his lap to stand on wobbly legs, divesting himself of his pants while Massu dug into a cargo pocket of his shorts to find the lube and condom he had brought with him.

Ueda grinned wide and shining, “You came prepared.”

Massu paused in pushing his shorts down over his thighs. “I like you,” he said, suddenly uncertain.

Ueda straddled him and took his heavy cock in hand. “I like you too.” He kissed Massu's mouth and stroked him in tandem, driving the uncertainty from him as though it had never been there.

In no time at all Massu had one arm around Ueda's back pulling him against his chest and slick fingers trailing down the cleft of his ass to press against him. Massu slid a finger into his opening slowly but steadily to Ueda's answering moan. 

Ueda was pressed tightly against Massu, only able to move his hips, but that suited him just fine. He rocked back against Massu's hand, pressing himself down toward Massu and rubbing their straining erections against one another.

“Tatsuya”

“More”

Massu, always one to please when he could, pressed a second and eventually a third finger into Ueda's hot tightness, shivering at the thought of that being around his cock. He stroked slowly and gently, opening Ueda to the intrusion and flexing his fingers to press against the spongy gland that had Ueda throwing his entire body back over Massu's bracing arm and crying out. “Now, Taka. _Please_ now.”

Massu released him to roll on the condom and slick more lube over himself, then gripped his slim hips in both hands and positioned himself at Ueda's entrance, looking up to meet Ueda's shining eyes as he sank himself down onto Massu's painfully hard cock without any prompting. 

Massu didn't drop his gaze while he waited for some sign from Ueda that it was okay to move. Ueda never gave one, simply rocking slowly of his own volition. The pace he set was slow, leisurely, and Massu savored the sucking heat and pull as Ueda moved against him. 

Massu pressed is face forward against Ueda's chest. Ueda's soft moaning was nearly a constant hum, vibrating both of their bodies and driving Massu out of his mind with the need to move _just a little faster_. He began rocking his hips up to meet Ueda and felt Ueda get tighter around him when he pressed Ueda back to get a better angle and better access to Ueda's neglected erection. The fire in the pit of his stomach was getting to hot to ignore.

Massu continued to thrust up into him as he thumbed the wet tip of Ueda's cock, slicking the fluid down over his length. Ueda bucked against him and Massu took this as his cue finally, _finally_ to go faster. Bracing his leg against the shampoo chair, he held Ueda slightly away from him and began thrusting still smoothly but ever harder into him, hitting Ueda just right and feeling the heat become suffocating while Ueda's melodic moans got louder and more desperate. 

He kept stroking Ueda, his body closing around his cock and pushing him perilously close to the edge. He pressed over and over into the sweet, slick heat until-

“Taka, oh god, oh yes-”

White lightning struck behind Massu's eyes and Ueda spilled hot and sticky over his fingers. Massu caught Ueda as he collapsed against him, kissing him softly and murmuring tender things into his ear.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maru returned on time to the salon and was immediately glad for the fact that he hadn't called out when he's entered if the moaning and the creaking vinyl of what had to be one of the salon chairs was any indication of what was going on.

He retreated silently to the cafe across the street. Twenty minutes later he messaged Ueda.

_Message from Maru:  
Sent 22:23, Tuesday, 28 April 2009_

_I'll be in the coffee shop across the street. For the love of god, clean up like you were never there. You're welcome._

_-Maru_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning Ryo sauntered into the NewS dressing room. Koyama and Tegoshi were chattering and Shige was reading some fuck-off huge book, as usual. Massu was leafing through a magazine that did not appear to have KAT-TUN anywhere in it. 

Ryo looked pointedly at Massu. “Your hair looks blonder, Buta.”

“Yeah. The hairdresser had to leave the bleach on a little longer this time.”

“Probably to correct for the black dye _you_ dumped on his head, Ryo.” Shige supplied helpfully.

Massu took a little too long to nod in agreement.

“Yeah,” Ryo agreed. “I'm sure that was it. You make sure you get a conditioning treatment.”

Massu smiled. “I will.”

A/N(s):  
The Pinky Article  
http://resha-hime.livejournal.com/29258.html

Pi actually did forget to update his nikki the previous Saturday  
http://nikpi-0409.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

April 24th Music Station Performance  
http://newshfan.livejournal.com/95613.html

May 1st Music Station Performance  
http://newshfan.livejournal.com/96821.html

NewS and KAT-TUN both had full spreads in the May 2009 issue of Potato  
http://dassou.aoi-tori.org/

Trattoria Pinosalice is an actual restaurant in Shibuya, well acclaimed by food bloggers as the best Italian around.


End file.
